[rink23]

Record: 86-63, 1st, 5.5 GA of Des Moines
Magic number to clinch division: 8
Magic number to clinch NL: 11
St. Louis batted around and scored five runs in the second inning against Twin Cities starting pitcher Chris Sale and held on for a 9-5 victory at Busch Stadium.
The River Walkers were helped by two errors and a walk in the inning.
A bases-loaded walk to Adeiny Hechavarria provided the first run of the inning.
The next two came on an Ender Inciarte single. The next batter, Andrew Benintendi, plated the last two with a double.
A pinch-hit home run by Ryan McMahon off St. Louis starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks in the sixth, pulled the Snow Cats to within 6-4.
But St. Louis got those runs back in the eighth. Inciarte with his second two-run single of the game, this one off Andrew Istler.

The batter previous to Inciarta, Albert Almora, had drove in the inning's first run with a pinch-hit single.
Twin Cities did make it interesting in the top of the ninth, getting three straight singles off Adam Climber to open the inning.
Reliever Andrew Miller came on to get pinch-hitter Mike Ford to hit into a run-scoring fielder's choice. However, he walked Bradley Zimmer to reload the bases.
The ball then went into Brad Boxberger's hands.
He got the job done, striking out Gleyber Torres and Carlos Santana to earn his third save.
St. Louis starter Kyle Hendricks earned his 10th win of the season. He lasted six innings, giving up four runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked two.